Aerodynamic display unit



Sept. 12, 1967 M. s. FRO-IS 3,340,634

AERODYNAMIC DISPLAY UNIT Original Filed May 26, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. MA UE/C/O S. FRO/6 Sept. 12, 1967 M. s. FROIS I 3,340,634

AERODYNAMIC DISPLAY UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2'3 Original Filed May 26, 1964 INVENTOR. MAUK/C/O -5. FEW/6 mzz m United States Patent 3,340,634 AERODYNAMIC DISPLAY UNIT Mauricio S. Frois, New York, N.Y., assignor to Einson Freeman Division of Einson Freeman and De Troy Corporation, Fair Lawn, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Continuation of application Ser. No. 370,297, May 26, 1964. This application Sept. 2, 1966, Ser. No. 577,087

7 Claims. (Cl. 40-39) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Fan blows air through hollow conduit having spaced apertures so that air blasts emanate laterally. Display items are supported on swivels in paths of air blasts. Conduit may be rigid vertical post, and it may support a rotatable canopy at its top, canopy having interior fins, and post having means for directing air at fins. Conduit may be a horizontal inflatable tube having a wire extending along its length from which display items are supported.

This is a continuation of Serial No. 370,297 filed May 26, 1964, now abandoned.

This invention relates generally to display devices, and has particular reference to a display unit intended primarily for advertising purposes and involving moving or animated display items.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a display unit that can be inexpensively manufactured in commercial quantities, and easily set up for use.

Another object is to provide a device that can be operated at low cost, and in a reliable fashion, for prolonged periods of time.

Another objective is to provide a display that lends itself to a large assortment of variations so that many different kinds of display items can be used, and a Wide variety of interesting attention-arresting effects can be produced.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a display apparatus that can be fabricated in large part of inexpensive light-weight materials such as paperboard and plastic sheets, and is animated aerodynamically, i.e., by simple blasts of air generated and directed in a special manner.

It is a feature of the invention to employ a simple structure defining a hollow conduit with spaced apertures in it, and to provide a means for causing air to flow longitudinally through the conduit and to emanate laterally from the apertures in the form of air blasts. Display items are supported in the paths of the air blasts for animation thereby. Preferably each display item, whatever its nature, is supported for free rotation on a vertical axis (as by suspending it on a free moving swivel or the like) and is so located and contoured with respect to the air blast that the flow of air causes it to rotate.

In one embodiment of the invention the hollow conduit or tube assumes the form of a vertical post. It is provided with relatively small and inconspicuous apertures at different heights, and a small fan in a supporting base blows air upwardly through the post and causes blasts to emanate from the apertures. Items to be animated are hung in front of these apertures, preferably from arms secured to and extending from the post itself.

In a preferred form of the invention the post supports a canopy which is rotatable on the post, and means is provided for causing at least one of the air blasts to rotate the canopy itself, thus enhancing the eye-catching effectiveness of the display.

3,340,634 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 ice In another embodiment of the invention the hollow tube is arranged horizontally or substantially so, with the air blast apertures directed downwardly. Display items are supported beneath these apertures and are so contoured in their upper regions that the downward flow of air over them causes the desired rotation.

It is a feature of the horizontal device to suspend the display items from a wire within the tube and extending lengthwise thereof, the suspension elements passing downwardly through the air blast openings themselves. The Wire can serve as a support for the tube, and the tube is preferably composed of inherently limp material such as a thin-walled plastic sheet which inflates to define the air conduit when air is introduced into it. Preferably the tube is secured at one end to a housing within which the fan is mounted, and is closed off at the other end to facilitate the flow of the desired downwardly directed air blasts.

Several ways of achieving these objects and advantages, and such other benefits as may be pointed out hereinafter, are depicted by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vertical-type display unit embodying some of the features of the invention, a part of the canopy and of the base being broken away to show parts otherwise hidden;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the direction and along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged cross-sectional view along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the substantially horizontal version of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along the line 55 of FIG. 4.

In the structure shown in FIG. 1, an upright conduit 10 is supported upon an enlarged hollow base 11 and is in communication with the interior of the base. These elements may be composed of inexpensive sheet material such as paperboard or plastic. There are numerous ways in which they can be set up and retained in self-supporting condition, and since such details are not important, so far as the present invention is concerned, they have not been depicted. By way of example, the base 11 may assume the form of a rectangular box composed of corrugated board or the like and rigidified in any of various conventional ways, while the tube or conduit 10 may be a simple flat element composed of paperboard or equivalent stock bent into tubular condition and retained that way by adhesive means or otherwise. While the display may be of any desired size, it is contemplated that for most commercially practicable purposes the base will be several feet wide and the upright tube perhaps four to six inches or so in diameter. The display can be of any appropriate height, depending upon whether it is to stand on a floor or counter or elsewhere, and a total height of four to six feet has provento be practical and functionally useful and effective.

In the device illustrated, the top of the conduit 10 is closed by an end wall, and a canopy 12 is supported upon it for free rotation upon a pin or post 13 extending up ward. The canopy 12 may also be formed, in any desired manner and of any suitable contour or shape, of inexpensive light-weight sheet stock. In the unit shown in FIG. 1, the canopy has a top wall of somewhat pyramidal shape whose apex is pivotally supported upon the post 13, and a marginal depending side wall 14 which preferably extends low enough to conceal the upper end region of the conduit 10.

An inexpensive low-power electric fan 15 is mounted within the base 11 in such a disposition that air will be drawn into the base through ape1tures16 and directed upwardly, i.e., longitudinally, through the conduit 10. At

3 selected spaced intervals there are small outlet openings 17 in the wall of the tube, through which air streams emanate laterally in the form of relatively gentle blasts indicated by arrows 18.

In the path of selected air streams are displays 19 to 'be activated. By way of example, these items have been shown in the form of elongated rectangular boxes, which can also be composed of low-cost light-weight paperboard or the like. Each box-like unit 19 can be supported for free rotation upon a vertical axis by providing laterally extending brackets or arms 20 or the like upon the post 10 and suspending the display units 19 by means of freemoving well-lubricated swivels 21.

As indicated in FIG. 3, each display 19 is suspended in such a way that the corresponding air blast 18 will strike it in an offset manner, whereby a rotative movement will be imparted to the suspended item as suggested by the arrow 22. Preferably the hole 17 is small enough to be inconspicuous, and the animatable item is supported to enhance the concealment of the hole. In this way the source of the rotative power is not readily apparent to the ordinary observer, and this contributes to the attention-arresting effectivenes of the display.

There may be numerous displays suspended in the manner described, and they need not all be necessarily of the same character. The canopy 12 itself may be caused to rotate by providing vanes 23, or equivalent contours, on its interior, e.g., on the marginal walls 14, and by providing a suitable air-blast aperture or apertures in the center post. In the unit shown, a small lateral conduit 24 is connected to the main conduit 10 in a position to direct an appropriately effective air blast against the vanes 23 as indicated in FIG. 2.

By judicious design and selection of display items with or without a canopy or the like, a large variety of interesting and eye-catching effects can be created. The central tube and/or the canopy may bear whatever advertising or ornamentation may be desired, and the display items may be representations of articles of commerce (e.g., packaged goods of various kinds), or they may be simple placards or the like, bearing advertising messages, or they may be purely ornamental (e.g., glittering items such as Christmas tree decorations). By making the air openings of different sizes, and by varying the contours and mode of rotative support of the display items, dif' ferent rotative speeds, and rotations in different directions, may be readily achieved, all these factors contribut' ing in accordance with a predetermined plan to the crea tion of whatever particular effect may be desired.

In FIGS. 4 and a modified version of the idea is shown. A supporting wire 25 is connected at one end to an appropriate fixed anchorage 26, and at the other end to a box-like structure 27 similar in nature to the base 11 of FIG. 1. A small electric fan 28 within the unit 27 draws air into the box and directs it out through an outlet nipple 29. The wire 25 is preferably secured to the uppermost margin of the nipple 29, as shown. Secured to the outlet 29, by means of a clamp 30 or the like, is one end of an elongated tube 31 composed of normally limp plastic such as light-weight polyethylene or the like. The tube 31 encloses the wire 25 and is closed off, in any convenient inexpensive fashion, at the opposite end 32. The corresponding end of the wire 25 passes through the wall of the tube 31, as indicated at 33.

In the lower part of the tube 31, at selected spaced intervals, are air outlet openings 34, facing downward. Activation of the fan 28 causes air to inflate the tube 31, as shown, and to emanate from the apertures 34 in the form of downwardly directed gentle air blasts. Display items 35 to be animated are supported for rotation on vertical axes, as previously described, in the paths of selected air streams. These items can be suspended upon strands 36 which extend downwardly from the wire 25 and through the air outlet openings themselves. A free moving welllubricated swivel 37 is preferably employed in each case.

The display items 35 are so contoured on their top surfaces that downwardly moving air will animate them in the desired manner. By way of example, items have been shown which are in the form of vertical cylinders, each being suspended for rotation on its long axis, and each having a pin-wheel type of formation 38 on its upper end. These items may be conveniently composed of paperboard or similar inexpensive material, and as hereinbefore stated they may be representations of articles or of any other desired contour or ornamental nature.

One of the outstanding advantages of this substantially horizontal type of air conduit or tube is that it can be installed with ease and great effectiveness across supermarket aisles and elsewhere. Also, the cost of the installation is unusually low because of the fact that the establishment of the conduit is brought about in large measure by the effect of the air itself in causing distention of an inherently limp, light-weight, inexpensive material. Moreover, the wire which maintains the tube in its desired elevated disposition serves at the same time as a simple and inexpensive anchorage for the suspended items.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides an inexpensive means, thoroughly practicable on a commercial scale, for displaying and animating a variety of different items, in many different combinations and environments, and with varied effects.

It will be understood that the invention has been depicted and described mainly in general terms, and that many variations in structural details may be provided without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a display device, a hollow base, a hollow post mounted on said base, the interior of said post communicating with the interior of said base and constituting means for causing air to flow through said post, support means extending from said post, swivel means adapted to be carried by said support means, and at least one rotatable display item secured to said swivel means, said post being provided with at least one relatively small and inconspicuous hole permitting the air to emanate laterally from said hole in the form of an air blast, said display item being supported alongside said hole in the path of said air blast, the axis of said support means .being arranged at an acute angle to a radius of said post drawn through said hole, whereby said air blast strikes said display item in an offset manner and thereby causes it to rotate, and a canopy supported at the upper end of said post for free rotation on the vertical axis of the post, vane means on the inner surface of said canopy, and means on said post for directing an air blast against said vanes to rotate the canopy.

2. In a display device, the arrangements as defined in claim 1 further comprising fin means secured to said display item, said fin means being arranged to receive said lateral air blast and thereby cause rotation to said display item.

3. In a display device, the arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said rotatable display item is adapted to be detachably carried by said support means.

4. In a display device, the arrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein said support means is provided with an eye, and said swivel means is provided with a hook adapted to be placed through said eye, whereby said dis play item is detachably secured to said support means.

5. In a display unit, a horizontally extending wire located in an elevated disposition and anchored at its opposite ends, a hollow tube supported on said wire with the wire extending longitudinally within said tube, said tube being provided with a plurality of spaced downwardly'facing apertures, a fan for causing air to flow through said tube and to emanate from said apertures in the form of downwardly directed air blasts, said tube being composed of normally limp but inflatable material,

one end of the tube communicating with a housing within which said fan is located, the other end of the tube being closed off to allow distension of the tube and facilitiate creation of said downwardly directed air blasts, and animatable display items beneath said tube in the paths of selected blasts for animation thereby.

6. A display unit as defined in claim 5, in which said display items are suspended from said wire by elements extending downwardly through said apertures.

7. A display unit as defined in claim 5, in which each display item is freely rotatable on its suspension axis and is so contoured in its upper region that the downward air flow against it will cause it to rotate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Whelan 40218 Trimpi 4040 Burgess 40218 Casteig 40-39 Kirkman 40128 Ore 40-39 X 10 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A DISPLAY DEVICE, A HOLLOW BASE, A HOLLOW POST MOUNTED ON SAID BASE, THE INTERIOR OF SAID POST COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID BASE AND CONSTITUTING MEANS FOR CAUSING AIR TO FLOW THROUGH SAID POST, SUPPORT MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID POST, SWIVEL MEANS ADAPTED TO BE CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT MEANS, AND AT LEAST ONE ROTATABLE DISPLAY ITEM SECURED TO SAID SWIVEL MEANS, SAID POST BEING PROVIDED WITH AT LEAST ONE RELATIVELY SMALL AND INCONSPICUOUS HOLE PERMITTING THE AIR TO EMANATE LATERALLY FROM SAID HOLE IN THE FORM OF AN AIR BLAST, SAID DISPLAY ITEM BEING SUPPORTED ALONGSIDE SAID HOLE IN THE PATH OF SAID AIR BLAST, THE AXIS OF SAID SUPPORT MEANS BEING ARRANGED AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO A RADIUS OF SAID POST DRAWN THROUGH SAID HOLE, WHEREBY SAID AIR BLAST STRIKES SAID DISPLAY ITEM IN AN OFFSET MANNER AND THEREBY CAUSES IT TO ROTATE, AND A CANOPY SUPPORTED AT THE UPPER END OF SAID POST FOR FREE ROTATION ON THE VERTICAL AXIS OF THE POST, VANE MEANS ON THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID CANOPY, AND MEANS ON SAID POST FOR DIRECTING AN AIR BLAST AGAINST SAID VANES TO ROTATE THE CANOPY. 